Tagging device



Oct. 18, 1955 J. G. LINNEMANN EIAL TAGGING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 2, 1951 INVENTORS Joseph .6 BY 2176 16 n%l/J%/% A rrYs Oct. 18, 1955 Filed Oct. 2, 1951 J. G. LINNEMANN ETAL TAGGING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct 3, 1955 .1. e. LINNEMANN FI'AL 2,720,321

TAGGING DEVICE Filed Oct. 2, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 By fayerze Midi-em United States Patent TAGGING nnvrcn Joseph G. Linnemann and Eugene W.

Cincinnati, Ohio Bnternan,

The present invention relates to ging machines and is partieuarly directed to a tagging machine which intermittently feeds a strip of tagging material through the machine and successively cuts a tag from the free end of the strip and automatically prints on said tag and stitches it to a garment supported on the machine.

An object of the invention is to provide a tagging machine which has a simplified and positive acting mechanism which may be purchased at a relatively low cost by small dry cleaning establishments for the purpose of identifying garments to be cleaned. In this connection features of the present machine are the few, simple operations required to replenish the tagging material and the printing pad for the machine, and in the relatively few parts that do not require the services of skilled mechanics for the necessary adjustments thereof.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a machine having the foregoing characteristics which is particularly adapted for actuation by a reciprocated, quick acting power means such as an electric solenoid.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the drawings and the following specification which illustrate the preferred form of our invention, it being understood that our invention is limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of our tagging machine, a part of the hinged, side cover for the machine being broken away to disclose certain moving parts thereof.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

improvements in tag- Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 66 of Fig. 4, showing a the machine in operative position.

With reference to the drawings the numeral 10 indicates the base for the tagging machine of this invention which has a box-like form preferably cast in one piece and comprising a bottom plate 11, a front wall 12, a rear wall 13 and opposed side walls 14 and 15 which form with a top wall section 16, a compartment 17 for housing a roll of tape 18, a source of electric power 19 and a tape guiding and advancing means generally indicated by reference numeral 29. The side wall 15 has formed therein an enlarged opening 21 for ready access to the compartment 17, said opening being closed by a panel 22 hinged to the bottom plate 11 at 23, and urged toward closed position within the opening by suitable springs 24 associated with the said hinge. The top wall section 16 is supplemented by a work supporting plate 25 which is fixed to the base by means of countersunk screws 26 threaded in the side walls 14 and 15, and, as most clearly shown in Fig. 2, the forward end of the work supporting plate has a narrow, central horn portion 27 which extends beyond the base and serves as a support for a portion of a garment to which a tag is to be applied.

2,720,821 Patented Oct. 18, 1955 The machine is provided with an oscillatory head 23 which carries a printing unit 29 and houses thereunder a stitcher 3d and a tape severing device 31. This head has a top wall 32 and opposed side Walls 33 and 34, the latter being provided with rear extensions 35 and 36 respectively that straddle two laterally spaced standards 37 and 38 cast on the top wall 16 of the base. The head is pivotally mounted on the base by a pin 39 which extends through aligned bores formed through the standards 37 and 38 and the said rear extensions 35 and 36. A leaf spring 40 is anchored to the base by a block 41 bolted at 42 to the central portion of the top wall 16, the free end of the spring bearing upwardly beneath the top wall 32 of the head to urge said head toward its upper inoperative position.

The stitcher, designated by the numeral 30, is of conventional design and is pivotally mounted on the base within the confines of the head by a U-shaped bracket 43 which is welded to and embraces the rear portion of the staple magazine 44 for the stitcher, the upstanding flanges of said bracket having aligned bores therein that freely receive the pin 39. The forward staple feeding portion 45 of the stitcher extends below the level of the printing unit for the purpose to be hereinafter set forth.

As best shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the work support plate 25 has a rectangular opening 46 formed therethrough, said opening being located beneath the head and to the rear of the forward staple feeding end 45 of the stitcher 30. In this opening is pivotally mounted the severing device 31, said device having a base member 47 including two opposed, rearwardly extending ears 43 and 49 for rotative engagement with horizontally aligned stub shafts 50 and 51 respectively that are anchored in the work supporting plate 25. A hardened metal plate 52 is aflixed to the base 47, and is spaced therefrom by means of end spacer blocks 53 and 54 of different thicknesses, it being contemplated that the assembly will be secured together by countersunk screws 55 passing through said plate and blocks and threaded in the side portions of the base. The forward end of the plate 52 is turned downwardly at 56 and the edge portion sharpened to provide a tag cutting blade 57, said blade being laterally inclined (Fig. 4) with respect to the plane of the work supporting plate 25 by reason of the difference in thickness of the end spacer blocks 52 and 53. Thus it will be seen that the pivoted severing device has a narrow and relatively wide passageway 58 formed therethrough which serves as a guide for the tape 18 fed to it by the feeding device 20, and that the cutting blade 57 is inclined with respect to the plane of the work plate to provide a shearing action on the tape as will appear hereinafter.

it will be particularly noted with reference to Fig. 6 that the opening 46 in the work support is formed with an elongated, arcuate forward wall 59 developed on the radius of the shafts 50 and 51, and that the free end of the severing unit has a complementary, curved edge which is snugly received within the forward wall 59 when the severing device is operatively rotated into the opening 46. The forward end of the severing device and tape guide is supported by a pair of depressable pins 60 and 61 mounted for vertical sliding movement in bores 62 and 63 formed in the front Wall 12, the bottoms of said pins being engaged by expansile springs 64 and 65, respectively, housed in the bottoms of said bores. As best shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 the pins are relatively wide to preclude rotative movement in their respective bores, and, as indicated in Fig. 3, the width of the pins serve to provide an effective rear stop or barrier for a garment portion 66 placed upon the work support for identification purposes. The pins are disposed behind, and have their front and wide sides in sliding engagement with the forward wall 59 of 1 the opening and have rounded upper ends which are in sliding contact'with the underside of the tape guide and position beyond the opening.

The means for co-ordinating the movements of the head '28 and the tapesevering device 31 comprises. a link 67 (Fig. 4) pivotally connected at 68 to the forward end of one side wall of the severing device, whilst the upper end of thev link is pivoted at 69 'to a lug 70 formed on the interior surface of the wall 32 of the head 28. Thesev'ering device, is spaced from the left-hand/marg-inal edgerof the opening 46 by'a Washer 71 onpin 50 to provide sufficient clearancefor theslink- 67 whenthe severing device is moved into operative-position bymthehead. It will also be noted (Fig.- 3) that theradiusiof thearcuate-wall 59 is continueddown acrossithefronti walllhousings; for pins 60 and 61 so lhatihfiSfiVBrhlgTkViCa maybe-freetopivot to the required distance beneathihe*tablelS.

With reference to Fig. a hardened metal plate: 72 is fixed in a groove'73formed'in'the upper surfaceo'f'the work support plate 25 by screws 140 or the like. This plate has its rear edge tapered at 74, and said edge disposed in the plane of the-arcuate wall57 of the tape guide and severingunit receiving opening 46 in the work support plate-25: The tapered edge 74 willtherefore serve as a fixed'blade-which cooperates 'with thei'nclined cutting knife 57 on the sever'mg unit to shear oh the free position, said frame also carrying fixed types 88 thereon forfinther identification purposes.

' work support plate 25'.

end of thetape'extending from the passageway 58 of the unit when the tagging machine is operated; The plate 72 also serves asan anvil for clin'chingthe ends of staples fed from the stitcher through the tag and the material on the work support, said plate having a clinching groove 75 formed therein for the purpose of cooperatingtwith the staple feeding end of the stitcher 44. The same plate 72 further functions as a platen toback'up the. tag andthe garment when the imprinting. wheels. are forced down upontthe taggingmaterialu It will therefore be noted that a single hardenedtm etal plate 72' provides" an anvil for the stitcher, a cooperative fixed blade forthe cutting device 31 and a fixed platen forthe printer 29, said. plate being readily detached from the machine for replacement by removal'ofthe countersunk screws 140 which fix the plate in the groove 7 3 inthe work table 25.

Interp'osedbetween the head and the stitcher is a resilientmeans for actuating the stitcher that comprises a relatively heavy, expansile. spring 76 which has a thrust upon compression sufficient to provide a'clamping action for the stitche'rton a tag severed from the strip, before the anvildrives a staple through it and into a garment, Upon downward movement of the head thelink 67. will-depress the severing device 31 which will in turn cause depression;

of the pins and. 61 whereby the severing device will continue its downward movement-into its-opening 46 and provide coaction of the movable knife 57 with the fixed knife edge 74 to shear off the free end of the tape from the web. r V

The printingdevice 29 is positioned in the forward portion of the head, and, as depicted in Fig. 4, the device has a plurality of the usual'numbering wheels 77 mounted on a crossrod78 extending: across a frame 79 that is secured to a removable housing-section 80 of the head by screws. 81. The housing sectionis mounted on the head by countersunk screws 82 which pass through bores formed m ne ends. of. the section and are threaded in internally threadedbores formed in the side walls-.33and 34 of the head. The wheels arerotated to bring the desired numbers into printingv positions by a manually operated lever.8 3 extending through a slot 84 formed in the section, said section having awindow 85 thereinto' disclose the identity of the characters on the'wheels that arebrought into printing position by the lever.

Aframe 86. for. a.- lettering; device is also'fixed on the housing sectiom80. to one side of the printing device 29 and may haveaplurality of wheels operated by' a lever 87 to bring desired date. identifying characters-into printing lettering wheels and the fixed type and to that end the pad is removably mounted on a U-shaped swinging car- 7 riage 90 pivotally mounted on a fixed pin 91 extending inwardly from the side wall 34- of the head and on an aligned fixed pin 92 extending from the frame 86 of the lettering device. One leg 93 (Fig. 6) of the carriage is provided with an arm 94 which is pivotally connected at its end to the upper end of a link 95. The lower end of this link is pivotally connected to a bracket 96 secured to the Downward movement of the head from its inoperative position will therefore render the link efiective to swing the inking pad 89 from the position shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 to the out of the way position illustrated in Fig. 6, so that the inked characters i on the printing wheels may contactand print ona tag. 0 As shown in Fig 5 the swinging motion of thecarriage toward inking position is stopped-by an abutment.97; on.

the frame. 86.. This action renders the link and its con? nections ancffective stop for limiting upward movement of. the head againstthe combined actions of the springs.

40, 63 and 64.

The means for operating thestaple driving plunger of the stitcher comprises a lug'98 fixed on the frame 86and extending through a hole 99 formed in the upper end of a plunger 100 slidably mounted in the staple on a shaft 107 journalled intermediate its ends in aligned in said legs of the frame. A

bearing holes. formed lantern wheel 108 is fixed to the extension of the shaft 107 beyond the leg 105, said wheel having a knob 109 for manually turning the feed roll. As best. shown in Figs. 3 and 4 a lantern wheel advancing bar'110 is pivotally connected to the sidewall 33 of the head by'a screw 111,. an intermediate portion of the bar passing through .an opening in the plate 25. of the bar is urgedagainst the lantern wheel by a contractile spring 112 secured at one end to the wall and engaging the bar at its other end. The bar is'providedi with a single tooth 113 which progressively engages one of .a series of angularly spaced lugs 114' of the lantern wheel with each oscillation of the head. When 'the head 28' is depressed the tooth engages. a lug in the wheel and upon return of the head to inoperative position the tooth advances the wheel a distance equal a to the angular distance between adjacent lugs. The end portion of the shaft 107 which extends beyond the leg,

tape feeding directionto prevent rotation of the tape by the. feed roll when the lantern wheel bar is being movedby the head to engage its toothil13 with a lugj 114on said wheel. V

' A pressure roll 118 is disposed withinthe frame 103 and'is urged toward thefeedroll by means of contractile springs 119' and 120which-loosely engage opposite ends ofv the roll shaft and'are anchored at their opposed ends in lugs 121 and 122'respectively struck from the frame.

feeding tape through The lower portion prises the solenoid 19 which has a plunger 123' slidably mounted within the armature winding, said plunger being connected by a link 124 to an inwardly directed portion 125 formed on the lower end of the bar 110. An arm 126 is pivotally mounted to the side wall 34 of the head and is provided at its lower end'with an inturned portion 127 which is also pivoted to the plunger link 124. The armature is connected to a source of electricity (Fig. 1) by means of a line 128 carrying a plug 129 which may be inserted in a suitable electric outlet, the electric circuit for the solenoid including a switch 130 which may be either hand or foot operated, as desired.

As best shown in Fig. 1 the roll of tape 18 is rotatively mounted within the compartment 17 on a fixed shaft 131 extending laterally from the side wall 14, said roll being secured on the shaft by a disc-shaped keeper 132 held on the shaft by a thumb nut 132 that is threaded to the free end of said shaft.

To replenish the tape supply for the tagging machine it is only necessary to swing the panel 22 downwardly, remove the thumb nut 133 and the disc 132, slide a new roll of tape on the shaft 131 and return the keeper and nut to their operative positions. The free end of the new tape is then inserted between the pressure roll 118 and the feed roll 102 and the latter rotated by means of the knob 109 until the tape is fed through the cutter and guide device 31 to the position illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 5 where the free end of the tape overhangs the rear portion of the work support 27 and has portions of the free end positioned beneath the staple feed end 45 of the stitcher and the imprinting wheels. It will be noted that the ink pad 89 may be replaced by merely grasping the depending mounting screw and pulling forward thereon in the usual manner.

In operation the edge of a garment 66 to be identified is placed upon the work horn 27 with an edge in abutment with the pins 60 and 61. The switch 130 is then operated to actuate the solenoid 19 which in turn draws down the head 28 to its operative position. As the head descends the link 67 depresses the severing device 31 and the thrust of spring 76 upon the stitcher 30 moves the stitcher downward somewhat in advance of the printer. The downward movement of the severing device displaces the springs 64 and 65 which support the pins 60 and 61 respectively thereby moving the latter into their respective bores in the front wall 12. Thus the cutting knife 57 on the severing device 31 comes into coacting engagement with the fixed knife edge 74 to shear off the free end of the tape to form a tag. As the severing operation comes to completion the staple feeding end of the stitcher engages the tagging material and further downward movement against the action of the spring 76 drives a staple into the severed tag and into the work held upon the support 27. As the staple is clinched on the anvil 70 the fixed characters 88 and the characters on the printing wheels come into contact with the tag and imprint identifying characters thereon. It is to be noted with reference to Fig. 6 that the top of the staple feeding end 45 of the stitcher will come into positive abutment with the underside of the head section 80 before the characters on the type wheels reach the level of the surface of the platen. The clearance between the wheels and platen is, however, less than the thickness of the combined tag and garment so that, backed up by the platen, vide a resilient printing action for the wheels effectively guarded by the positive stop means described heretofore. This construction protects the type, and type wheel mountings from damaging jars caused by driving the device with a relatively quick acting solenoid. As the printing operation is completed the switch 130 is released and the stitcher is first returned to its inoperative position in the head by action of spring 76 and then the head, the stitcher and the severing device are the tag and garment pro-' 6; returned to their respective inoperative, upper positions by means of spring 40 aided to some extent by the springs 64 and 65.

Thus it will be apparent that the initial feed movement of the head by the solenoid is counteracted only by the action of a relatively light head supporting spring 40 to provide rapid movement of the head and quick shearing of the tape by the cutting device. Thereafter the solenoid must overcome the thrust of said spring and the relatively heavy spring 76 between the stitcher and the head which materially builds up resistance of the head movement to the action of the solenoid and slows down the speed of the head toward the end of the staple driving and clinching operation so that when the final printing step is reached the head has nearly stopped, thus precluding shock to the printer wheels and characters at the moment of printing. As has been pointed out abutment of the stitcher and the head finally terminates the feed stroke of the head with the printing wheels stopping short of the plane of the platen.

What is claimed is:

1. In a tape guide and cut-01f device for a printing and tagging machine, such machine comprising a base, a platen and an anvil fixed in spaced relationship upon the forward portion of the base, an oscillatory head pivotally mounted upon the rearward portion of the base with its free end disposed above the platen and anvil, a printer and stitcher actuated by the head and cooperable with the platen and anvil, respectively, upon downward movement of the head, a tape supply on the base, a tape feeding device mounted on the base, means operated by the upward movement of the head for actuating the tape feeding device, and drive means mounted on the base for moving the head downwardly toward the base; all the foregoing constituting merely the setting for the tape guide and cut-off device; the combination of a shiftable gate disposed on the base beneath the head and rearwardly of the platen and the anvil, a lateral pivot pin anchored in the base and passing through the rear portion of the gate, a link pivoted to the head and having its depending end pivoted to the front side of the gate, a closed longitudinal slot formed through the gate guiding the tape therethrough and normally positioning the forward end portion of the tape above the platen and anvil, a tape cutting edge carried by the forward end of the gate and positioned laterally across the exit side of the slot therein, and a fixed knife positioned on the base rearwardly of the platen and anvil and cooperating with the cutting edge on the gate to sever the forward end portion from the tape when the drive means is operable to move the head downwardly toward the base.

2. In a tape guide and cut-off device for a printing and tagging machine according to claim 1 characterized by the fact that the gate has a curved front end formed on the radius of the pivot pin therefor, and the fixed knife has a rearwardly facing curved wall for closely receiving the said curved wall of the gate.

3. In a tape guide and cut-off device for a printing and tagging machine according to claim 1 characterized by the fact that the tape cutting edge carried by the the gate is inclined with respect to the fixed knife on the base.

4. In a tape guide and cut-off device for a printing and tagging machine according to claim 1 characterized by the fact that the gate comprises a base member having two laterally spaced rearwardly extending ears pivoted to the pin anchored in the machine base, a plate fixed upon the base member in spaced relationship therewith and forming with the base member the longitudinal tape slot through the gate, the forward edge of the plate being sharpened to constitute the cooperative tape cutting edge on the gate.

5. In a tape guide and cut-01f device for a printing and tagging machine according to claim 4 further characterize by thezfacti-that the basamember 'and the plate for the 'gaw are stured together by sidespacer blocks of diiferent thicknesses.

1,125,969 13.27pm" Hullings 889,250" Kohnle UNITED STATES PATENTS Craig Tan. 265.1915 Feb. 2, 1915" -N0v; 29, 1932' 

